Not in Love
by KittyVogt
Summary: Mike/Zoe centred, with Cate/Mike Hate them, but theyre necessary to the plot and Oliver/Zoe. Evolved from a simple piece of fluff. Read and Review!
1. Those three little words

_Alright, so I dont own the show or the characters. And hopefully soon, Zoe and Mike will hurry up and get together on the show, and the relationship won't be my idea anymore. _

_Regardless, this is my second fic. So reviews would be great! But dont be too horrible. At least I tried! And this started off as a piece of fluff about not being able to tell someone you love them. But its going to evolve into something a lot bigger. First scene basically just sets it up. Enjoy!_

Mike smiled contently as his hands rustled through Zoe's golden hair, her head resting on his chest. This was a new concept to Mike. After all, most of his mornings were spent attempting to push out the door whichever female floozy he had picked up the night before with a myriad of overused excuses and a final 'I'll call you tomorrow.' Now he found that mornings could be _almost _as enjoyable as the night before. He had been trying to get Zoe into bed for at least a year now, perhaps not trying, simply dreaming. Nevertheless, he needed to keep his thoughts at bay. This wasn't love, it was one night. Just like every other time with every other woman. They'd even decided upon this before they hopped into bed. Zoe was lonely, Mike was lonely. She hadn't had sex since Sean, he hadn't since- well he was sure to lie about that, mentioning Cate would be a slight mood killer. And, probably not thinking straight, they decided they could comfort each other for just one night. Mike had to admit he was shocked when Zoe suggested the idea, he supposed she must have forgotten that only a year ago he'd confessed his feelings to her, and she'd shut him down. As though she could read Mike's thought pattern, Zoe's eyes fluttered open. She lifted her head off his chest and dropped it back onto her pillow, yawning 'Good morning' as she did so. Mike mumbled the same back and turned over onto his side, his face just inches away from Zoe's. She looked stunning in the morning, so stunning Mike wanted to marry her, start a family and grow old together. The moment the thought had been entertained in his head, Mike gave himself a mental slap. He couldn't possible be thinking of marriage or starting a family, and he was already practically old! Mike realised he had been staring at Zoe, and, although he continued staring, muttered 'Sorry.' Zoe simply laughed and flashed a smile. The grin, Mike's favourite, was enough to send him over the edge and he, not thinking, whispered 'I'm glad we did this. I- love you.' As he felt the words escaping Mike could see Zoe's grin fade to a horrified exclamation. She sat bolt up right in bed and turned to Mike, 'What?' she asked.

'Nothing, nothing. I don't know why I said that, I meant I love this, not- not you,' Mike stumbled whilst Zoe rose from the bed and, picking up her dress on the way out, walked into the bathroom, dragging the sheets with her.

She slipped the dress over her head and quickly fixed her make up in the mirror, 'It's already ten, I need to get going. I have work,' Zoe lied under her breath.

'I thought you started at seven tonight?' asked Mike as his dream paced out of the room, bag in tow.

'I have paperwork,' snapped Zoe.

'You- you don't want breakfast?'

'It's fine, I'm not hungry. I guess I'll see you at work,' and without waiting for a reply, Zoe paced down the hallway and exited through the front door, slamming it behind her, leaving Mike staring into the distance, knowing full well she had just done to him what he had done to so many women before.

_P.s. Next chapter might be up late tonight, early tomorrow morning! Review please!_


	2. Not in denial

When he arrived at work that night Mike found that Zoe had put on a strong, ice-cold front. In fact, she had only given him a sly glance as he walked into the ED, and their conversation so far had been strictly medical. That was, until their patient's scans arrived and they stood, alone, examining them. It reminded Mike of all the times in the past he'd laughed and flirted with Zoe over scans, teasing her for her need to 'Always have the last word' just to see her smile. However, today the conversation turned to a more prickly topic as Mike broke the awkward silence by murmuring, 'Are we just going to ignore what happened?'

Zoe turned sharply to Mike. 'Nothing happened,' she stated callously.

'Nothing? We…'

'Not so loudly,' Zoe berated, 'I meant it didn't mean anything, so we shouldn't let it effect us. We agreed beforehand that it wouldn't. As for this morning, you made a small slip of the tongue, which may have been taken the wrong way, and then I left for work. See, nothing.'

'Of course, when you put it that way,' Mike sighed. In truth, he couldn't let the incident pass so easily. He hadn't told someone he loved them since- since he couldn't even remember. He thought what they had shared was special, not a 'nothing.' But now the woman of his dreams was crushing mercilessly any hope he had of a brighter future.

'Are we ok?' Zoe asked. At this point, her eyes would usually have been filled with concern and sympathy. However, Mike found they were now hollow, icy, unnatural. There was something occurring inside of Zoe that she wasn't telling Mike about, and this left Mike uneasy long after the conversation had ended.

Zoe herself was still shook up by the incident later that night. She was less set on her emotions than Mike and had no idea as to the depth of his feelings towards her. Instead, Zoe was confused over the range of emotions she had felt since the night before. Delight during the night she spent with Mike, which soon turned to shock the next morning at Mike's revelation and then turned to disappointment as she, throughout the day, decided that Mike was not actually in love with her, but was only lusting for her, meaning the one night stand had truly been nothing more than a one night stand. It was this feeling of disappointment that Zoe was most perplexed by. Why should she be disappointed because Mike was not in love with her? She couldn't be in love with him, or could she? Either way, she was not going to be the lovesick fool. Therefore, Zoe decided to commit herself to her work, and it was at this point that Frank came lumbering over to her.

'I need you to help me with this,' Frank said, passing over a file. Zoe looked through the file and discovered it was a long list of demands for new equipment, all stamped by Admin as 'denied.'

Zoe let out a whistle at the length and asked 'How am I supposed to help you with this? I'd say Admin is giving you a flat out no.'

'But you're good at convincing Admin to give in,' Frank whined, 'At least try talking to Oliver.'

'Frank, that isn't going to help this time.'

'It's worth a shot. And Zoe, this time, try not to betray me.'

The sharp words pierced Zoe. Frank still wasn't over Zoe's betrayal, and he wasn't about to let her forget about it. Zoe of course felt horrible, and Frank's constant reminding did nothing for her conscience. So she agreed to talk with Oliver, even though he himself was still upset after Zoe rejected his offer to take over Frank's job.


	3. Need some convincing

On her way to Oliver's office Zoe contemplated which persona she should use in order to convince Oliver. She could put on her usual stern, mature look, or attempt to be cute and bubbly, or throw a Frank, yell at Oliver and storm out, which would allow her to escape before Oliver could utter one word to her. But Zoe knew she couldn't do that, she owed Frank, and it was time to start paying him back. So, she resolved to try her usual look, and see where it went from there.

In Oliver's office, Zoe found that he was still 'disappointed' with her. His manner appeared frustrated, and his suit was less perfectly organised than usual.

When Zoe was seated, Oliver deferred from offering her tea or coffee, instead snapping, 'I suppose Frank sent you to discuss with me his long list of demands.'

Zoe nodded, directing Oliver to continue. He leant back in his chair, his heads placed behind his head, attempting to appear relaxed and calm, 'But there really is no need. I'm not in a place to be changing my mind.'

'You couldn't just look through the list again?' asked Zoe.

'I'm going to get straight to the point. I made it clear to you I wanted one thing, Frank gone. Now, if you want these demands met, you'll have to get rid of Frank.'

'That's not going to happen.'

'Well then, this conversation is over. Nothing will change.'

'Please Oliver. The ED can't run without new equipment,' Zoe switched to begging, appealing to the slight conscience Oliver had left.

'The answer remains no. Unless…'

'Unless?'

'I could reconsider this matter over dinner.'

Zoe knew the look in Oliver's eyes as he spoke only too well. Lust. She could use this to her advantage, but of course, she needed to be very careful not to sell herself. 'Really? I would appreciate it. But, I don't see the purpose of going to dinner to discuss this after you've already given me a flat out no. What's to say your answer won't remain that way?'

'Then let's skip the reconsidering and just go to dinner.'

'That doesn't solve the ED's problem. And unfortunately, without all this new equipment we've asked for, I won't have any time for going out to dinner.'

'Are you suggesting I grant your demands in advance in order for you to go to dinner with me?'

'I could make it worth your while.'

'You know if you go back on this agreement, like you did with our last agreement…'

Zoe interrupted in protest, 'I never agreed to anything!'

'Regardless, this time, I will not let you off so easy.'


End file.
